Mephistopheles
by Kyunkyun
Summary: In which, Naruto is characterized by perspicacity.
1. Prologue

**Mephistopheles**

"You fail."

The words pierced through Naruto like a flaming arrow, but not the implication of those words, but the very tone of how the words were spoken, coupled with the disconcerted look which adorned Iruka's visage. Of course, he wouldn't let that show on his face.

"Aww! Iruka-sensei! Just let me pass!"

Iruka's fellow examiner Mizuki gave a concerned glance at Naruto, before looking at Iruka placatingly.

"Yeah, why not let him pass for once? He did make a few clones this time after all, even if they look half dead..."

Iruka let a vexed frown crease his forehead, before his lips sank into a frown and his features showed a genuine apologetic and regretful being.

"I'm sorry Naruto. No means no, I can't let you pass with this kind of results. I'm..sorry"

Naruto gave a small nod, and he exited the examination room silently. The classrooms were already empty since he was the last to take the test. The erupting cheers from outside pervaded his ears, the jovial celebrations sounded like harsh cacophony to him. Regardless, he knew what he had to do.

Naruto dragged his feet outside of the classroom, and let his body slump onto the swing that was nearby, allowing an agonized look to cross his face. As though waiting for this moment, Mizuki who exited from the classroom a while ago approached Naruto with a friendly demeanour.

"Hey Naruto, i know you really tried your best. I could see it in your eyes."

"There's no point isn't it? I still failed."

"No exactly...if you really want to pass, i know of a secret way..."

"Really?! Please tell me Mizuki-sensei! I really want to pass!"

Mizuki fought to contain the smirk that threatened to spilt his face, suppressing it to become a faint, effable smile.

"Well, this is what you have to do, it's exam which puts your stealth abilities, speed, and intelligence to test. First you have to go to the Hokage Tower, in the top floor of the tower, there is a room and inside holds a scroll...the Forbidden Scroll...."

Naruto listened attentively as Mizuki detailed the plans of the test.

* * *

As night encroached, Naruto got to work. Getting into the hokage tower was easy enough, the lack of security almost made him laughed, but he caught himself in time. Swiftly and stealthily, he made his way to the top-most room of the tower, and as though eager to be stolen, the forbidden scroll laid there on the table. A pristine and mysterious aura seemed to envelop the scroll, causing Naruto's outstretched hand to hesitate for a second, before making a hurried grab for the scroll, and a quick escape from the tower.

It only took him less than half an hour before he reached the scheduled meeting point in the forest, and he was still a few hours early. He sat. He stood. He skipped. He ran. He jumped. He was bored out of his mind.

Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he unwound the scroll, who cares if he was breaking part of the deal, it wouldn't matter as long as nobody knew. As he read through the secret trove of techniques, his mind exploded with the possibilities that mastering these techniques could bring. Kage-bunshin was just one of the many propitious skills listed. Without wasting a second, he started feeding his mind with the new information he received.

* * *

Sarutobi looked grim as he stepped into the forbidden room. In the place of the forbidden scroll was a piece of paper with a few scribbled on it. He took a cursory glance at what was written. It was hard to tell in the shadows whether his frown lessened or got even more pronounced.

With a few handseals, he assembled more than 50 chuunins and jounins, and gave his imperious order:

"Find Naruto, and bring him back here. I want him alive."

"Yes, hokage-sama!" the ninjas answered as one before embarking on their new mission with breakneck speed.

The sandaime gave a long sigh, "Naruto...what are you thinking..?"

* * *

It was time. Mizuki leaped into the forest clearing, and just as he expected, he found a smiling Naruto along with the forbidden scroll, which looked to be in mint condition. Forcing a smile on his face, he praised him.

"Good job Naruto! Now give me the scroll and you'll pass!"

"Sure Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto answered jovially as he threw the scroll towards Mizuki, who caught it with ease. "Where's my headhand, sensei?"

"Oh! Its right.." Mizuki rummaged through his waist bag. "HERE!" He grasped his kunai and flung it at Naruto, watching with relish as it sunk deep into Naruto's forehead. Naruto staggered, as he dropped to the floor...and disappeared into a pile of smoke.

Mizuki's eyes widened. "Wh..What? What's this?!"

A soft laughter echoed through the woods, as another Naruto stepped out from behind the foliage. "I was wondering when you would stop this pretence; it almost made me puke to go along with your act."

Mizuki felt a shiver across his body. This Naruto was different. It wasn't the slight uncharacteristic smirk, nor the condescending eyes. There seemed to be an aura of confidence bordering on arrogance which surrounded him, as well as a scent of danger and death. Mizuki gritted his teeth, he wasn't about to be intimidated by a academy student! Not even a genin for goodness sake!

"Oh, looks like you finally figured me out! Pray tell how did you see through my plan you demon child, before i end your miserable life?"

Naruto seemed unfazed by the threat. "Well I guess i would enlighten an ignorant soul. The first thing which alerted me to you was the surreptitious glances you cast at me when you thought I wasn't looking. Then I thought it was weird how you tried to befriend me all of a sudden, I didn't do anything to deserve your attention after all. Next, there was the contradiction between your speech and behaviour, you encouraged me, yet when i turned my back, you sent me looks of contempt. Don't think I didn't know that."

Naruto surveyed Mizuki, who seemed to be shaking with anger, and he went on. "Of course, it was only my conjectures thus far, so i went to ask around, and the general consensus was that you were an extremely strict teacher, even stricter than Iruka, and does not show any favouritism. This begs the question of why you acted to friendly towards me, and why you even argued for me to pass the test. However, at this point, i haven't totally dismissed the idea that you liked me genuinely, although i was very doubtful. Of course, my theories were proven true. If you had really been on my side and wanted me to pass, you wouldn't have stopped after such a feeble argument against Iruka. Anyone could tell that Iruka was conflicted, and with a little push, he might actually let me pass, but you stopped there. The real reason was you didn't want me to pass. You needed me to fail for your plans to progress."

Naruto stopped to take a deep breath. Mizuki gripped his kunai. "At that moment, i was 90% sure of your nature. The final 10% came when you proposed your plan to me. You couldn't have been any more fatuous. Which idiot would believe that stealing the Forbidden Scroll would allow you to pass? This was unheard of and obviously fictitious. Despite that, i decided to go along with your plan, in order to expose you."

Naruto smirked, as he watched Mizuki redden with anger. "It's my victory, Mizuki-sensei."

Mizuki gripped his kunai tight. He couldn't believe that he had been seen right through by a 12 year old academy student. His pride was shattered. "Well, assuming you were right...why did i choose you then?! Couldn't i have chosen someone else? Another person who failed??"

Naruto sneered. "Of course you couldn't. You wanted to kill two birds with one stone. You wanted me specifically, to get your revenge on the demon kid you thought to have taken away your family, isn't that right?"

Mizuki was speechless. He let out a warcry, before raining kunais down on Naruto, who simply vanished into tendrils of smoke as the kunai reached him.

"Where are you? You demon! You're right! I wanted revenge! Revenge! Hahaha...i have the forbidden scroll now! I shall be invincible, come on out so that i can end your life demon!" Mizuki tore open the forbidden scroll, and horror coursed through his body."What's this?" What met his eyes wasn't a multitude of secret techniques, but rather, a large scribble of "You Lose!"

Anger coursed through his veins. "NARUTOOOO!" He clenched his fist hard, as his fingernails cut into his palm, and trickles of blood fell to the ground.

"Fufufu...Hey Mizuki sensei, the scroll is here." MIzuki stood rooted to the ground, as a chorus of voices greeted him. One by one, Narutos with the forbidden scroll emerged from behind the trees. 5...10...20...50...no...it was more than a 100! For the first time in his life, Mizuki thought he saw the devil.

"Its my victory..." Naruto uttered, as his legion advanced on Mizuki, who could only gaped in horror, letting out a silent scream.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 1

**Mephistopheles**

**Chapter 1**

Naruto smiled as he dusted off his sleeves, admiring his work of art. Mizuki was no longer recognizable by the face. Multitudes of swelling, bruises accompanied by trails of blood covered MIzuki's vile countenance. Naruto had contemplated on presenting Mizuki a Glasgow smile, but decided otherwise, seeing that he might be actually be put for counselling if he went through with the act.

A rustling of the leaves.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Iruka leaped out of the bushes, his face one of panic, his hair unkempt. Naruto let a small smile creep onto his face, it was always nice to know thta someone cared about him.

"Oh hey Iruka-sensei, it was no trouble, Mizuki's already taken care of," Naruto gestured towards the bloody lump known as Mizuki. Iruka's jaw dropped. _What on earth did he do to Mizuki? He's a chuunin for gods sake!_

As if reading Iruka's mind, Naruto sped through a few handseals and produced a dozen clones. "I got him with my kage bunshins!"

_That's a jounin level technique! _Thought Iruka, as he struggled to overcome his amazement. At this point, an unexpected presence made himself clear.

"Ahem, i received your note, Naruto." The Sandaime stepped out of the foliage calmly, giving a surreptitious glance at Mizuki, before focusing his attention back on Naruto. "While i appreciate that you left a note saying 'I'm borrowing the scroll to kick the traitor Mizuki's ass', i would like it more if you would inform me of your plans earlier, so that i could assign you backups...although it looks like you didn't need any."

"Of course jii-chan! I'm invincible. By the way, i pass the test right, i think forming kage bunshins and defeating a chuunin earns me more than the right to be a genin!"

Sarutobi seemed to ruminate over the issue for a couple of minutes, before making his verdict. "That would have to be left to your examiner to decide."

Naruto gave a pleading look to Iruka, who nodded without any hesitation. "You pass, Naruto. Congratulations." He unwound his own headband, and tied it on Naruto's forehead. "You're a genin now."

Naruto savoured the moment, as he let a true smile seep onto his face. The hokage looked on approvingly, and Iruka beamed with pride.

* * *

The next morning began desultorily. Naruto made his way to class—where he was supposed to report to be consigned into teams and assigned instructors. As he strolled into class, many regarded him with distasteful glares. Naruto took them with equanimity, and settled himself down onto a seat beside the much vaunted Uchiha Sasuke.

He sat, engulfed by ennui for a few minutes, before watching with detached interest at how Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino struggled and pawed at each other at the front door, how they scrambled up the steps to prove their own superiority, and how they glared menacingly at himself.

"Naruto! Get lost, that seat is mine!" The irritants shouted in unison. Naruto glanced at them dryly, before deciding that awarding any answer or hint of recognition to them was a waste of his time. He tuned out their bickering (which had shifted away from him and focused on who should have the right to have the seat) and thought about how he loathed to be in the same team as one of them. He noted amusingly that the chances of that happen were actually quite high.

The Ino-Shika-Cho team was a no brainer, seeing that the families had worked together splendidly for generations, and being such a doctrinaire, the hokage was unlikely to change the pairing. Naruto thought he should be more adventurous though, a different combination might even produce better results. The other notable genins were Hyuuga Hinata (he knew she always took surreptitious glances at him), Aburame Shino (rather creepy, if you ask him), Inuzuka Kiba (feral one, that one), Haruno Sakura (Noisy organism no.1), Uchiha Sasuke (mercurial guy), and of course, himself. The rest was merely grey silhouettes in the background destined to be forgotten in this world of the ninjas at best.

There were a few ways this could play out. They could form an offense based team by slotting Sasuke, Kiba, and himself together. Shino, Sakura, and Hinata could form a potential genjutsu-based team. Of course, they could also form an analyst team comprising Hinata, Sakura, and Kiba, and Sasuke, Shino, and himself forming the other team, perhaps also primarily focused on offense. The last option would be to create a tracking team featuring Hinata, Shino, and Kiba, their abilities do complement each other very well. However, this would leave a rather disjointed and directionless team of Sasuke, Sakura, and himself. Despite that, it was still the most probable option, the tracking team's potential was too valuable to be spurned and it was tradition to have the highest scorer (Sasuke) in the same team with the lowest scorer (himself), together with someone somewhere in the middle range, and Sakura fit perfectly, acing her written test but performing dismally on the practical tests.

The entrance of Iruka snapped him out of his cogitation, and the announcement of the teams drew his utmost attention. Just as he predicted, the Ino-shika-cho team was formed, followed by the Kiba-Shino-Hinata tracking team, and finally to his disgust, he was teamed with Sasuke and Sakura, the latter who let out an exuberant cheer for being grouped with her crush. Her irritating counterpart Ino looked despondent, as though it was the end of the world, if you would excuse the clichéd phrase.

Naruto tuned out Iruka's long harangue regarding teamwork and other trivial details, but he did hear the part about jounin instructors coming to meet them. He went through the possibilities of this Team 7 as it was christened. Sakura would no doubt follow Sasuke's every command, which meant that the two of them would be able to work well together, if Sasuke would reciprocate her feelings, of course, this would bring forth the risk of personal feelings endangering the success of missions. Naruto frowned, it seemed as though he was the only outsider in this team, while he did not have any feud with either of his teammates, he did not have great relationships with them either, actually, he scarcely bothered to build solid rapports with other people, despite knowing how crucial such relationships are. He just couldn't be bothered, seeing that many of these classmates are immature brats, often occupied with materialistic, idealistic, and naive thoughts.

He noticed, by this time, most of the teams were already gone, and after a few more minutes, only his team was left. Sakura started tapping her feet, looking to be extremely impatient and annoyed. Sasuke on the other hand, just sat stoically at his desk, his eyes darting towards the clock every 5 minutes or so. Perhaps this was a test? Unlikely, a test of this sort would not examine anything of importance, other than patience. There was virtually nothing they could do since they were not given the name of their instructor.

After a few hours of waiting, in which Sakura badgered Sasuke continuously and Sasuke remained silent, which engendered Sakura to fall silent as well, the door of the classroom slid open, and a masked individual strode in. Naruto took in his appearance. His most distinguishable features were his dirty silver, spiky hair, and his headband which covered one of his eyes. A doujutsu? Perhaps. The jounin vest he was wearing told him that this was the dilatory individual they had been waiting for.

"Hmm..." the jounin in question began. "My first impression is that you are all very quiet."

Silence. Sasuke and Sakura glared at the jounin. Naruto was in a torpor.

"Alright...i see we're not very friendly today. Let's all meet at the roof, maybe the fresh air some sunlight would rejuvenate you guys." Once he finished, the jounin vanished in a puff of smoke, presumably to the roof.

Naruto gave a small sigh, as he made his way to the roof, followed by Sasuke and Sakura. As expected, the jounin was already there, sitting dangerously on the dilapidated railing. The team settled themselves down opposite the jounin.

"Well now that we're all here, why don't we start by introducing ourselves? State your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, whatever." He stared at them for a moment. "I guess i'll start first then, seeing that all of you are so taciturn"

He cleared his throat loudly. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future...hmm...I have lots of hobbies. Now its your turn, how about the one in orange go first?"

Naruto noticed. Despite his ostensibly relaxed posture, his eye shone with a certain alertness, and his fingers moved adroitly. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen...and i dislike fatuous, inane individuals. Dreams for- no, I shall be Hokage, no matter how long it takes me."

Kakashi gave him a penetrating stare, before giving a small nod, and gestured towards Sasuke. _He has grown in an interesting way..._

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

I don't have much likes, and i dislike a lot of things. Dreams...no, its more like an ambition. I want to resurrect my clan, and...kill a certain man."

Kakashi looked a little grave. _As expected from the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan, he wants revenge. _"Alright, last one!"

Sakura spoke demurely, "I'm Haruno Sakura...i like (glances at Sasuke), i dislike people who stand in the way of my love. Dreams for the future...(glances at Sasuke again)"

Kakashi gave an internal sigh. _Girls this age are more interested in love than ninjustu huh... _"Okay then! Now that the introductions are done, i have a few announcements to make. First is, before we start our duties as Team 7, we will be doing something within ourselves first. Survival training."

He paused, as though for dramatic effect. It was obvious he didn't get the reaction he expected though, and his lone eye lost some of the gleam it held before as he continued. "It's more of a test though, to see if you are qualified to be genin, so lets meet up at training grounds tomorrow at 7...and don't eat your breakfast, you might throw up." Kakashi tried his best to do a menacing face, but looked more like a scarecrow instead. With that, the jounin disappeared in another puff of smoke, leaving the prospective genins to ponder about their task tomorrow.

"Both of you better not get in my way tomorrow." muttered Sasuke as he walked off. Sakura gushed at his coolness. Naruto was apathetic, although he did feel a infinitesimal annoyance at Sasuke's insinuations. Then he left too, leaving Sakura alone to dream about how it was going to be a test of her love for Sasuke.

Naruto went over the meeting with Kakashi in his head on his way back. He didn't doubt the survival training being a test, after all, he heard various rumours about how normally only 6-12 genins made it each time, there was 27 graduates this time round, obviously they had to eliminate some. The not eating breakfast part was ludicrous though, how could they go through survival training on an empty stomach? It didn't make sense. It was probably a trick. Naruto ruminated over the jounin's name...Hatake Kakashi, it sounded rather familiar. Then he remembered, he had heard gossip about him before, the prominent copy ninja Kakashi. Copy ninja...probably one of his trademark techniques...maybe it has something to do with his covered eye? It might just be an injury though...Naruto's questions remained unanswered, as he reached his modest apartment, and went to sleep. It was a long day after all.

* * *

Sunlight squeezed past the curtains and shone on Naruto, rousing him almost instantly. He glanced at the time. 6.30am. That was fine. He prepared himself a cup ramen for breakfast, and packed his kunai and shuriken, making sure he had all that he needed. After 3 minutes, he devoured his delicious ramen. Giving everything a final check, he stepped out of the apartment confidently, a determined look in his eyes.

* * *

Read and review please


	3. Chapter 2

**Mephistopheles**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Naruto arrived at the vacant training grounds, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi were all not there yet. Just as he was going to take a light nap, a spark of brilliance crossed his mind. It was survival training after all, he'd better make some prior preparations.

"Kage-bunshin no jutsu"

* * *

Sakura showed up just as he finished his preparations. An awkward silence filled the air, and surprisingly, Sakura was the one to start the ball rolling. "Hey Naruto."

"Yeah?" came the disinterested answer.

"Good morning."

"You too."

"So what do you think Kakashi-sensei is going to make us do today?"

"No idea."

Deafening silence reigned once again. The discomforting situation was resolved when Sasuke came, with the usual irascible look on his face. Immediately, Sakura left Naruto alone and clung on to Sasuke, pelting him with questions which only gathered what NAruto could only describe as grunts frin the onyx eyed boy.

So it went on. A feeling of déjà-vu set in as they waited and waited. This time though, his teammates were more expressive, Sakura was grinding her teeth audibly, and Sasuke was scratching the tree he was leaning on with a kunai. Even Naruto felt that the waiting was chafing at his nerves.

Naruto's acute sense of time told him that around 2 hours had passed, before a swirl of leaves formed in the training grounds, dissipating to reveal the infuriating jounin. He gave them a wide smile, which only served to aggravate his teammates.

"Looks like we're not in a very good mood today either," Kakashi smiled.

"It's because of you!" yelped Sakura angrily.

"Well..." Kakashi went on, ignoring Sakura's outburst. "You will need that kind of attitude if you want to pass today."

The atmosphere seemed to grow tense, as a serious mood set in. Kakashi brought out a clock and placed it on the rock nearby, and reached into his pocket and pulled out two bells. "As you can see, there are two bells here, the clock is set for noon. If you can get a bell from me before the clock rings, you pass."

"But there's only two bells!" came the expected protest from Sakura.

Kakashi gave her a demeaning stare, and Sakura shrank back. "Obviously, it means that whoever doesn't get the bell fails. Let me give all of you some advice. If you want to pass, you better come at me with the intent to kill."

The air was thick with a certain solemn glum, making it a little difficult to breathe properly. Naruto took a cursory glance at his teammates, Sasuke looked determined, but Sakura seems to have been entrapped by apprehension. That wouldn't do, none of them had a clue as to the answer to this test. It was preposterous to split them into 3 man teams only to eliminate one person; it would leave a gaping hole in the team and severely cripple its potential. Thus, the only reason Kakashi chose this method was a test. A test of teamwork.

Yet Naruto wondered if this dysfunctional team could pass this simple yet difficult test. Sasuke looks as though he's not going to accept anyone's help, Sakura would definitely try to find Sasuke, but she seems to be an easier target to work on, given her own uncertainness she might just agree to work together with Naruto.

"Ok, you guys ready? It starts...from now." Swiftly, all three members of the team leaped into the bushes, concealing themselves.

_That's good, all of them hide well, although i can still tell that Sakura is behind the bushes, Sasuke is most likely to be in the tree, but Naruto...I can't seem to pinpoint his location, every location seems quite likely..._Kakashi was brought forcefully out of his pondering as a few shurikens came flying at him. _Too simplistic. _He stepped out of the way, only to hear the cutting of a string.

_A trap!_ Kakashi's eyes widened slightly as kunai and shuriken rained down upon him, impaling his body, drawing a shocked gasp from Sakura in the bushes. Naruto knew better. 'Kakashi' seemingly morphed into a log, and appeared on the other side of the training grounds unharmed.

Naruto continued to observe as Sasuke leapt out of the trees, hurling more shuriken and kunai at Kakashi, who sidestepped all of them, giving Sasuke a taunting smile. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, before rushing at Kakashi while pulling back his arm.

_A direct punch? Too naive, i expected better._ Only, Sasuke stopped just a metre away from Kakashi, surprising the jounin slightly as the used his forward left leg as a pivot and flipped in the air, his right leg speeding towards Kakashi's head. _A spinning back kick! But the execution is too slow. _Kakashi gripped the boys leg, stopping his progress, and caught a ghost of a smile on his face.

_Shit!_ Kakashi quickly released Sasuke's leg as he watched him form a few hand seals. "Katon: Goukyaku no iutsu!" A large fireball seemingly formed in mid-air as Sasuke blew. Kakashi hurriedly used a kawarimi, managing to escape the blast with slightly singed fingertips.

Sasuke surveyed the burnt landscape around him, Kakashi was nowhere in sight. A sudden tremor under his feet. Sasuke jumped, but it was too late, two hands burst from under the ground and grabbed his legs firmly.

"Doton: Shinjuu zanshu no jutsu!"

A hard pull left sasuke buried up to the head in the ground, as Kakashi reappeared in front of him. "Well, you're good. I'll give you this, but you wont be able to beat me alone." _Hopefully his hint will wake him up._

"They'll only get in my way."

Kakashi sighed, as he went off to find his next victim.

* * *

Seeing that the action was over, Naruto went on his way to find Sakura as well. He had gotten a pretty good gauge of Sasuke's abilities; however, his hopes for an alliance were crushed by Sasuke's reply to Kakashi's obvious hint.

A sudden and plaintive scream told Naruto that he was too late. He sighed, now that both his teammates were immobilized, how could this work out? And he had planned it perfectly too. He would first sought out Sakura to convince her, while letting Sasuke get pummelled by Kakashi to lower his confidence, so that he would be more willing to accept help. Since it had come down to this situation, he had no other choice than to use his Plan B. He wasn't particularly fond of this plan, considering it an expedient which would not help the team in the long run, but having said that, failure was still much worse.

"Narutoooo, come out, it's only you and me now. You can't hide," Kakashi called out.

Naruto obliged, stepping out of the bushes he was hiding in, and without a second's hesitation, dashed at Kakashi.

"Kage-bunshin no jutsu!" With a few puffs of smoke, a dozen more Naruto materialized, circling around Kakashi, surrounding him. All at once, the legion surged forth aggressively, throwing punches and sending kicks.

Kakashi parried and dodged the attacks easily as though he was dancing, seeing the over showy motions of the clones as opportunities, he threw a right hook followed by a low kick, dispelling two clones in just a few moments. But he had no time to relax, as Naruto created another dozen clones. _Doesn't he ever run out of chakra? The attacks are easily enough to predict, but the numbers are overwhelming._

The impasse went on for a few minutes, for every clone Kakashi dispelled, Naruto sent out another. Kakashi swept a high kick at the clone, who barely dodged it, he followed up with a body blow which dispelled the clone. Turning around, he threw a punch at another clone, who seemed to dodge it effortlessly. A kick missed, but his next punch did the job. It seemed as though Naruto had finally run out of steam, he wasn't producing any clones anymore, and by now, only a pitiful four were left.

Kakashi resisted a smug smirk, choosing to focus on extirpating the annoying clones. A high kick was dodged, he blocked the punch that came his way, and countered with his own punch, surprisingly, the clone managed to dodge that as well. Seeing the clone getting to close, he shoved it away, utilizing a back kick to dispel the clone behind him, only to find the clone parrying the blow.

It was then, Kakashi realized. _Shit! They're reading my moves!_ Kakashi always knew the special ability to Kage-bunshin, they could transfer what they experienced to the original, and subsequently, when more clones are created, they have the same experience. But he didn't expect Naruto to know this, nor in his wildest dream did he expect his taijutsu style to be read after a mere 50 clones or so.

Caught in his thoughts, Kakashi reacted too late to the tremors under his feet. Two hands burst out from beneath the ground and gripped his feet tightly, immobilizing him. Naruto smirked at him. "Doton: Shinjuu zanshu no jutsu. Pretty nifty technique. Although i don't have enough practice to pull you under the ground. But for now, stopping your movements is enough."

_Th..This guy! He's mocking me! _Kakashi's frantic thoughts were punctured by hurt hubris and a small surge of anger. Calming himself down, he reminded himself that he was a jounin, and his opponent was merely a greenhorn genin. He timed the attack of the clones, and at the very last moment, he executed a kawarimi, switching one of the clones in his own place.

"As expected of a jounin, but I saw that coming." The voice came not from the gang of Naruto in front of him, but from behind him. "Looks like my preparation wasn't a waste." No, it came from above. "You underestimated me, Kakashi-sensei." Below! "Fufufu...." No...it was everywhere!

Kakashi could only react with astonishment as trees, bushes, rocks all turned into the familiar figure of Naruto. _Henge...?! Shit i should have detected this. He really got me now!_ _I've got no choice then. _Checking that the bells were still securely strapped to his waist, he formed a few hand seals.

Immediately, Naruto recognized it as identical to the one Sasuke had utilized. Not eager to be burnt, he leapt out of the way and back into the trees, but could only watch helplessly as the rest of his unfortunate clones were scorched to oblivion.

* * *

Kakashi breathed heavily. Sasuke's skill level was within his expectations, Sakura's a little disappointing, but Naruto...it was unexpected. To have such a extaordinary level of analyzing as well as deception skills...he would have to review his image of his team again. But, they still have not caught the essence of this test.

Just as he was thinking alone that line, Sakura emerged from the foliage, throwing a combination of Shuriken and kunai at him. Kakashi dodged, dashing towards Sakura, only to be intercepted by Naruto, who flung his fist at Kakashi's face. Flipping back to dodge the punch, he found himself face to face with Sasuke's kick. Not expecting that, he formed a cross arm block as he felt the impact of the kick, which sent him by a few metres.

A kunai from Sakura flew at him, forcing him to step back, just what Naruto had been aiming for. A well placed low kick nearly swept Kakashi off his feet, luckily the counter punch he sent grazed Naruto, causing him to falter, giving the jounin another chance to plant a fist into his stomach. The sound of hand seals being formed alerted him, as he spun around seeing Sasuke speed through his hand seals, finishing with the tiger seal, but Kakashi wasn't about to let him finish, hurling a shuriken at Sasuke which caused him to break his concentration, having to dodge. _Such flawless teamwork...i'm amazed._

The ring of the clock signalled noon and the end of the test. The three genins stopped in unison, assembling in front of Kakashi. "Well, you guys didn't get the bell, but you passed. I guess you understand the meaning behind this test now?"

"Teamwork." Answered the three genins in a single voice.

"Good, so let's have lunc-" Kakashi's eyes widened, as he saw Sasuke lugging an unconscious Sakura out of the foliage. He looked down again. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. He looked up, his eyes wasn't deceiving him. There were two Sasuke and Sakura! "Wh..what is the meaning of this?"

Naruto gave a peeved look, as he dispelled the transformation of his two clones. Kakashi's eye narrowed as he watch the Sasuke and Sakura in front of him turn back into Naruto clones, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. By now, the real Sasuke and Sakura had reached, both with disgruntled looks on their faces.

Kakashi couldn't comprehend how he could have been duped to completely and utterly. "How..? No, when did you realize the meaning of this test, Naruto?"

"Once you showed us the two bells. It wouldn't make sense for us to be sorted into teams only to have one person eliminated from the team after just one day, so obviously there was a hidden meaning behind it—teamwork."

_Impressive. _Thought Kakashi. _But how did he managed to feint so well?_

As though reading Kakashi's mind, Naruto answered. "I observed the short scuffle between you and Sasuke, and got a little insight into his style of fighting. That was why i could lead you to believe my clone was really Sasuke. Of course, that wouldn't be enough, so i had to make my Sasuke clone fake a fire jutsu, i purposefully let you punch me, so that my clone could form some hand seals behind your back. I didn't know any fire jutsu, but it didn't matter, as long as it looked like one and ended with a tiger seal. As I expected and wanted, you intervened, so i didn't to expose myself."

Kakashi didn't know whether to be furious or astounded, but Naruto wasn't done yet.

"As for Sakura, i didn't see much of her skills, but neither did you, so you couldn't have possibly tell it was a fake. Although i did play safe by using throwing weapons, since i noticed in the academy that Sakura was accurate with them, just in case you read our profiles beforehand. By the way, I don't know how to perform Doton: Shinjuu zanshu no jutsu, it was just to send you into a frantic state, it was really my clone hidden under the ground."

_This little.._Kakashi unconsciously reached out to touch the cloth over his hidden eye. _I can't believe i was outwitted, outsmarted...by a genin. This test was a lesson I learnt from my own team...from Obito...yet it was subverted by a genin so easily..Damn it!_

"Kakashi-sensei, Although it seems as though i made a joke out of this test, i must exculpate myself, because i was serious about the test every single second, and i realized the importance of this test, and i assure you Sasuke and Sakura do too." Naruto glanced at his teammates, who nodded, although Sasuke did so rather reluctantly. "So please don't think that i sullied this test...or the memory of your comrade."

"How do you kno-" stammered Kakashi

"Your eyes reflected a kind of faraway, longing and regretful glint...and your hand which touched your covered up eye gently. If it was an injury to you only, you would probably express anger, frustration, or even grip the wounded area tightly, but the effete way the treated the wound evinced that there was something precious about that wound, maybe it was a wound you suffered because you friend saved you, or else it would have been much worse, or maybe the wound held some of your friend's essence. Anyway, it signalled a loss in the past, probably not just your physical self, but one of your teammates. The longing look you had told me that, and this spot which you chose as our testing grounds. The memorial rock where names of martyrs are engraved...there was a meaning behind it." Naruto stared at Kakashi, who seemed to be dazed and stunned.

To Kakashi, it it looked as though Naruto was staring right into his soul, penetrating him._ He...he's totally reading me...i can't think anymore. _Kakashi's brain refused to function, and he could only stare dumbly at his charges. His knees gave out, and he collapse, he could vaguely tell that his genins surrounded him, but no more. The forest seemed to close upon him, encompassing him in a silent darkness...

"...Kakashi-sensei...Kakashi-sensei...Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi woke from his trance abruptly from Naruto's shaking. As he looked into Naruto's penetrating icy blue eyes, what he saw wasn't a 12 year old genin, it was something much older...ancient...a demon, no, it was something with a much more vast sea of intelligence...it was a devil.

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